Whether or not cell phones cause brain cancer is an issue that has been debated (but no answer) for years, and aujourd 'hui the World health Organization (WHO) stepped into the fray. A WHO committee that evaluates various potential carcinogens found that radiofrequency electromagnetic fields, including cell phones are "possibly carcinogenic" to people. The announcement was seized upon and published in dozens of news outlets in minutes.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has concluded a possible carcinogenicity after a review of eight days of the literature by 31 experts in Lyon, France. The ranking is in the middle of the hierarchy of the IARC risk, joining a group of more than 250 potential carcinogens that also includes lead, engine exhaust, and occupational exposure to dry cleaning. In a sign of how difficult it is to determine that something does not cause cancer, one of some 00 agents that IARC has evaluated, caprolactam, a component of fibers and plastics, falls into the category "probably not carcinogenic".
Regarding cell phones, "we found some evidence of son tell us how cancer can happen, but I think that there are gaps and uncertainties recognized," said Jonathan Samet , chairman of the IARC working group and a physician and public health expert at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, at a press conference. the working group was particularly influenced by an international study called Interphone which is to examine whether exposure to electromagnetic fields from cell phones radiofrequency causes cancer. last year, the INTERPHONE study group wrote in International Journal of Epidemiology it saw "no increased risk of glioma or meningioma." He continued: "There were suggestions of an increased risk of glioma at the highest exposure levels, but biases and errors" make it is difficult to demonstrate that the phones were the cause. "The possible effects of long-term heavy use of mobile phones require further investigation," they concluded.
IARC would like more research as well. Samet noted that, at this stage, there are almost 5 billion cell phone subscriptions worldwide, and "we expect an ever larger population that is exposed for longer and longer." That said , moving the cell phone category "possible" in a final will not be easy. epidemiological studies like tend to match Intercom healthy people with those who have brain cancer and ask both to remember their cell phone use. "We know that is inherently flawed," said Samet. And because these studies take time to complete, they inevitably look older technology. animal studies looking at the risk of radio frequency electromagnetic fields were mixed, both to know if they see a danger and why this might be.
what IARC reassess the risks of cell phone, the committee said, will depend on what new research comes out.
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